COS Town Tidings #25-336

Gmail will clip so click to 📖 READ ONLINE

🤣 Today’s Chuckle

📰 FREE Laser Show for Gives Day, TONIGHT ✨

📰 Broadmoor’s Holiday Gingerbread Showstopper 🎅

📰 Map Out Your Light Tour 🎄

🍫 Trivia Time: Is This Colorado’s Sweetest Historic Landmark?

🛍 New: Bargain Box Weekly Sales, Dec 2-6! 

📆 Local Events + Concerts & 🤶 Holiday Fairs/Festivals

🌤 COS Weather - Mostly cloudy, with PM snow starting into Wed

I just got over my addiction to chocolate, marshmallows and nuts

👉If I'm honest, it was a Rocky Road 🤣

✨ FREE Laser Show for Gives Day TONIGHT

To celebrate Colorado Gives Day, the Colorado Gives Foundation is hosting a FREE “Light Up the Night” drive-in laser show at the Norris Penrose Event Center, TONIGHT. Families can enjoy a 20-minute synchronized light and music display on a 30-foot screen from the comfort of their cars, along with complimentary popcorn.

Gates open at 5pm, and tickets required (Only 5 Spots Left). The event highlights the statewide giving movement, which has already raised nearly $12 million for more than 3,600 nonprofits.

🛍 Bargain Box: This Week's Hot Deals! Dec 2-6

A new week means new treasures! We're giving you a first look at the incredible finds and amazing sales hitting the floor for Dec 2-6. Watch now to see what's waiting for you!

Location: 405 S Nevada Ave, Open Tues - Sat 10am-2pm. (719) 475-1029

• —> 🤲 They Have 5,000 Reasons to Work for Free

🎅 Broadmoor’s Holiday Gingerbread Showstopper

The Broadmoor has debuted its 2025 life-sized gingerbread display, turning the mezzanine of the main building into a whimsical Olympic scene inspired by the upcoming 2026 Winter Games. The display features Santa in a bobsled and chocolate elves participating in winter sports, all built from thousands of handcrafted treats ranging from gingerbread and chocolate to macarons and meringues.

Overnight guests may visit anytime, while the hotel welcomes non-overnight guests on select December weekdays.

• Tues, Dec 2 – Thurs, Dec 4

• Mon, Dec 8 – Thurs, Dec 11

• Mon, Dec 15 – Thurs, Dec 18

🎄 Map Out Your Light Tour

Timberline Landscaping has launched its 13th annual Christmas Lights Guide, helping families easily find the best holiday displays across Monument, Colorado Springs, and Woodland Park. The map covers more than 40 miles of lights and includes local spots for warm drinks, along with standout features like Manitou’s downtown display, Woodland Park’s glowing evergreens, the Holiday Express at the Pikes Peak Cog Railway, and neighborhood favorites that support local charities. Timberline also created a Spotify playlist to accompany the drive. Locals can submit their own displays for inclusion through Dec 15.

💸 Watch Erik's no-nonsense, 60 second financial tip (updated monthly)

🍫 TRIVIA: Is This Colorado’s Sweetest Historic Landmark?

Did you know Old Colorado City is home to the very first Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory franchise in the world? Tucked into a brick storefront on Colorado Ave, this little shop opened its doors on July 4, 1982, just one year after the original chocolate shop started in another small Colorado town.

Which Colorado city is home to the original flagship Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory store that inspired the Old Colorado City franchise?

Stepping inside back then meant watching caramel apples dipped by hand and chocolates crafted in view of the sidewalk, giving locals and tourists a “mountain town” experience without leaving Colorado Springs. Today, the plaque on the front of the building quietly hints at its global significance: this was store number one—the launchpad for a brand that would eventually spread hundreds of locations far beyond Colorado.​​​

For Colorado Springs residents, it means something fun: when you walk past that shop in Old Colorado City, you’re not just near a candy store—you’re standing at the starting line of an international chocolate franchise that began with a single family’s gamble on sweets in small Colorado towns.

In 2023, the company rolled out a major brand refresh and simplifies its trade name to ‘Rocky Mountain Chocolate”. Personally, it just loses something and sounds too “generic” for me. What do you think? Do you like the new name?

Answer: Durango, Colorado opened in 1981. Source1

Would you do us a favor and spread the word? We need your HELP! Please share Colorado Springs Town Tidings 🤗

👉 Are you on Nextdoor? Share our newsletter there too! 

Don’t want to be up to date on the latest Colorado Springs news, events, and more with our daily newsletters? Reply to this email with “2-3 Times/Week” and we’ll only send you Wed, Sun and if we do a special issue.

PLEASE DON’T MARK US AS SPAM! This negatively impacts those who DO want to receive this newsletter. Remember, YOU signed up, there’s a link at the bottom to unsubscribe or reply with “please unsubscribe.”

🎟 Colorado Springs Just Got More Rewarding

Colorado Springs Town Tidings VIP PASS, a FREE digital wallet pass you can easily add to your Apple or Google Wallet. (Click image below to find out WHY I created this for you!) 

🙋‍♀️ Yes, I want my VIP Pass

🎉 Events Calendar! (More events including FREE, click here)

Have an event to share? Click on calendar above and add it

📆 Sample Local Events

*Weather permitted

• Dec 2-7, 1-4 PM: 3-Hour Original Colorado Springs Food Tour @1 Tejon St $69-$87

• Dec 4-28: Mary Poppins @ Fine Arts Center, 30 West Dale St $18-$70

• Dec 4-21: The Importance of Being Earnest @ ENT Center $21-$47

• Dec 6-7, 13-14: The Ringmaster`s Christmas @The MAT, 1626 S Tejon $26.50

• Dec 7, Noon: Goat's Milk Soap Making @ Meraki Springs, 2703 W Colorado Ave $65

• Dec 10, 6-8:30pm: Cinnamon Rolls - Sourdough Baking Class @ Nature's Start Bread Company, 3312 Austin Bluffs $75

• Dec 12 & 29, 9am-5pm: Dog Days at the Zoo @ Cheyenne Mtn Zoo

• Dec 17, 6-8pm: Pedestal Flip Calendar Class @ Meraki Springs, 2703 W Colorado Ave $40

• Dec 21, 10am-Noon: Beginner Dot Mandala Painting Workshop @ Treehouse Cafe, 5965 N Academy $50 (6 Seats Available)

🎶 Fall Concerts - Weather permitting

• Dec 3, 4, 9, 6pm: Holly & Ivy concert @ Air Force Academy FREE (must register for ticket)

• Dec 6 (7pm) & 7 (2:30pm): Chamber Orchestra of Springs: Dances With The Winds @ Ent Center for the Arts $18-$41

• Dec 21, 3pm: Pikes Peak Philharmonic: Jazz @ENT Center for the Arts, 5225 N Nevada $14-$20

🤶 Holiday Festivals, Fairs & Activities

• ⛸ Through - Jan 18: Skate In The Park @Acacia Park $15

• 🕯 Through Jan 4, Fri & Sat (5:30-10pm) & Sun - Thurs (5:30-9pm): Magic of Lights at Pikes Peak International Raceway (PPIR) $28-$72/vehicle

• 🎄 Through Dec 27: Christmas at Forest Bend @ Black Forest, 9525 Burgess Rd $15 (Tickets Sell Out Fast) 

• Dec 5-23, 25-Jan 1, 5-8:30pm: Electric Safari @ Cheyenne Mtn Zoo $21-$24

• Christmas Lights Guide - COS, Manitou & Woodland Park

   

• Dec 2-4, 8-11, 15-18: 2025 Creation: The Spirit of the Games Gingerbread Display @ The Broadmoor

• Dec 3, 10-13, 17-20, 26-27, 5:30-8pm: 🎄 2.5-Hour Holiday Lights & Bites Progressive Dinner @ Downtown COS $99

• Dec 4, 5:30-8:30pm: Electric Moonlight @ Cheyenne Mtn Zoo $70-$80

• Dec 5-6 (10am-5pm), 7 (10am-4pm): Holiday Food & Gift Festival @Norris Penrose Event Center 1045 Lower Gold Camp Rd $8 (get $1 <coupn code HFGF25> or bring a can food item)

• Dec 6, 9am-11am: 3rd Annual Cookie Walk Fundraiser @ St. Paul's United Methodist Church, 2111 Carlton Ave $6-$12/box

• Dec 6-7, 9am-4pm: Doherty HS Craft Fair @ 4515 Barnes Rd FREE to attend

• Dec 6, 11am-3pm: CFAM Holiday Market @ The Margarita at Pine Creek FREE to attend

• Dec 6, 3:30-6pm: Christkindl Fest @ Ascension Lutheran Church, 2505 N Circle FREE admission (Must RSVP)

• Dec 6, 5:30pm: Festival of Lights Parade @ Downtown, Tejon St FREE + 🆓 FREE PARKING 3-11pm TODAY!

• Dec 7, 2:30-4pm: Grinch Mosaic Class @ The Glass Collective, 828 East Fillmore $45 (Going Fast)

• Dec 13, 4-8pm: Holiday Evening @Rock Ledge Ranch $8

• Dec 13 & 27, 6-9pm: Murder Mystery, The Hollywood Hit - Holiday Show @Great Wolf Lodge, 9494 Federal Dr $79.95 (12 Ticket Left)

• Dec 20, 10-11am: Centerpiece Workshop @ Phelan Gardens, 4955 Austin Bluffs $25

OWN a local business and would like to be featured? 👇Click below:

✅ Own a local Business? Apply

👋 Colorado Springs Town Tidings is for you, our readers. We encourage you to share your news, local hero stories, events, and more with us! Email us at [email protected]